WotC WotC's Chris Perkins On D&D's Inclusivity Processes Going Forward

Over on D&D Beyond, WotC's Chris Perkins has written a blog entry about how the company's processes have been changed to improve the way the D&D studio deals with harmful content and inclusivity. This follows recent issues with racist content in Spelljammer: Adventures in Space, and involves working with external cultural consultants.

The studio’s new process mandates that every word, illustration, and map must be reviewed by multiple outside cultural consultants prior to publication.

Leveling Up Our Creative Process: Learnings From Spelljammer

In this blog post, I'll talk about how we in the D&D Studio are changing our review process following the problematic content that appeared in Spell...

www.dndbeyond.com

 

[Jfdlsjfd]

I know they said that Ed Greenwood is of European descent. But that's not what I am asking you. I am asking you to tell me how mentioning Ed's descent implies expertise in medieval Europe? You have said that expertise was implied. So explain to me how it was implied.

Because the topic of the discussion was that there was oversimplifying and mashing several cultural elements in Mythic Polynesia. Someone said it did'nt felt different to what was done in the FR, another example of superficial research.

The counter naturally would be that proper research was done into the FR to justify the mish-mash. Then we're told out of the blue about the genealogy of the author. The implication seems clear that ancestry replaces research, and I read it like @AnotherGuy did. It is possible that the OP meant something else by mentionning the authors ancestors. But there is a strong chance it would be offensive, such as one's ancestry mattering on what one can or can't do, so I didn't mentally explore this line of thoughts. Could you in turn clarify how you understood "he's of european descent" as an answer to "this is a poorly researched hodgepodge of things relating to several cultures". It is also possible that it was just an off-topic comment about Ed Greenwood without bearing on the argument at hand, it is possible that I read too much into it, but I generally suppose people posts something related to the topic being discussed.

 

[AnotherGuy]

Maybe, but let's put this in perspecitve: You are defending another poster's strawman argument that is being used to make smug pot shots at another poster, and moreover you are now making it personal against me by calling my post arrogant and brushing me off with a condescending passing remark that "so are the days on the internet."

To be fair, I'm the first to have made a comment in similar vein to the poster you believe is making a strawman.
As for making it personal - I commented on your post which by the rules one is allowed to do. And indeed my first comment I explained how I saw it. There is nothing much for me to explain, my case has been laid out, but rather it is you who needs to explain how you interpreted their comment. See below

I know they said that Ed Greenwood is of European descent. But that's not what I am asking you. I am asking you to tell me how mentioning Ed's descent implies expertise in medieval Europe? You have said that expertise was implied. So explain to me how it was implied.

The original poster made a comment 1 or 2 posts after this post
"This reminds me a lot of what D&D has done with it's Medieval European influences in settings like the Forgotten Realms"
and then he went on to elaborate about the mashup of European cultures within the FR setting.

Why mention Ed being originally from Europe? So a black man in Brazil is ok to write about all of African culture? or an Asian born in the States gets a free pass on anything Asian?

EDIT: Almost as if the book in question would be fine if one of the writers had a conversation with a Polynesian friend.

 

[glass]

It’s equally (more?) probable they are intelligent enough to realize the portrayal of “good guys” as exclusively or predominantly white causes real damage, they saw an opportunity to contribute to change, and they stepped up. Even though they that the typical cast of losers would kick and scream about it.

I appreciate that I am coming late into a very long thread, but I wanted to highlight this point. There was a lot of discussion early on about "offence", but offence is not what really matters - harm is what matters (or as Bill Zebub puts it - "damage"). If WotC prints something horrifically racist and nobody who reads is offended by it, that is not better it is worse!

(On the moral point - offence obviously does matter to the practical question of whether such things affect WotC's bottom line.)

I think it would make an awesome Monster Manual if we were to take the literal, word-for-word translation of German nouns to English and make them monsters.

That would be super fun for the team that has to translate it back into German....

 

[Aldarc]

Because the topic of the discussion was that there was oversimplifying and mashing several cultural elements in Mythic Polynesia. Someone said it did'nt felt different to what was done in the FR, another example of superficial research.

The counter naturally would be that proper research was done into the FR to justify the mish-mash. Then we're told out of the blue about the genealogy of the author. The implication seems clear that ancestry replaces research. It is possible that the OP meant something else by mentionning the authors ancestors. But there is a strong chance it would be offensive, such as one's ancestry mattering on what one can or can't do. Could you in turn clarify how you understood "he's of european descent" as an answer to "this is a poorly researched hodgepodge of things relating to several cultures"

You are leaving out a key element of the argument, which I believe is coloring your sense for what the "counter naturally would be" because it is less "out of the blue" than you say here.

@Whizbang Dustyboots noted that Mythic Polynesia didn't have "actual Polynesian people involved in the project at all," wherein I think that we can also understand that there were not even people of Polynesian descent, such as people of Polynesian descent living in the U.S., Canada, or Sweden.* So we are not talking strictly in terms of superficial research, but also about the authors' own voice, life experiences, and background that they bring to the project.

As such, I think the implication of @Incenjucar drawing attention to Ed Greenwood's descent was not that it confered any special expertise but, rather, that it reflects the author's voice: i.e., Ed Greenwood is a person of European descent living in a state founded by European colonists whose citizens are composed by a majority of self-reported European descent. And in American and Canadian schools, European history tends get emphasized as the hegemonic pre-colonial worldview, framework, and perspective for our history. We can talk about whether that "mish-mash" of European cultures in FR is appropriate, but @Whizbang Dustyboots also said that it's good that writers and game designers in Europe are creating TTRPG that reflect their own idiomatic cultures.

* "The Design Mechanism was formed in 2010 by Lawrence Whitaker and Pete Nash. A truly international company, The Design Mechanism spans Canada, northern Sweden and the USA."

Why mention Ed's being originally from Europe? So a black man in Brazil is ok to write about all of African culture? or an Asian born in the States gets a free pass on anything Asian?

Ed Greenwood is from Canada, but he is (presumably) of European descent. IMHO, it's not about giving anyone a free pass. It's about constructing an appropriate comparison. Mythic Polynesia didn't have anyone of Polynesian descent working on it, and it's the year 2022, a time when sensitivity readers are strongly recommended. Ed Greenwood is of European descent, and he developed the Forgotten Realms between the '60s and '80s before sensitivity readers were really a thing, first publishing it with TSR in 1987, roughly 35 years before Mythic Polynesia. FR obviously isn't getting a free pass, because Tomb of Annihilation got raked for Chult.

If people from these respective European nations sincerely care about what they may see as a negative depiction of their respective cultures in this FR mish-mash of European cultures - though I have my doubts how their good faith - then they are welcome to respectfully voice their concerns to WotC.

Do you genuinely care about the depiction of European cultures in Forgotten Realms, @AnotherGuy? Do you want WotC to change Forgotten Realms so that it better represents the plethora of European cultures?

 

[AnotherGuy]

Do you genuinely care about the depiction of European cultures in Forgotten Realms, @AnotherGuy? Do you want WotC to change Forgotten Realms so that it better represents the plethora of European cultures?

No, my interest in the FR setting lies not in the cultures unless the particular location we are campaigning in is quite exotic (read less Medieval). That is not the case though for Mystara where the cultural makeup of each location is quite important. However, I also do not mind that they are not perfect.
So for instance, I note that particular publisher has made various products of European and non-European descent. I further would not be surprised that they would have cut corners in their other products. I also state upthread that they

• Should have utilised consultants for this project; and
• That I'm the type of person that likes to do my own research for particular settings. I do that for published fantasy settings so doubly so for settings inspired by the RW. If I can argue for no orcs in Dragonlance I can certainly diversify the mythic Polynesian people, right?

I'm a fan of drawing inspiration from RL cultures, religion and history - but I also do not believe that every culture who is not of European descent deserves greater treatment than those of European descent.

EDIT: i.e. So these guys seem to bang out pulp for various settings inspired by the RW. Their methods wouldn't change from culture to culture. Next they could bring out Mythic India, Mythic Russia and Mythic Congo and likely do the same thing - use a few easy resources including 1-2 commercial movies for reference and then get on with the job. That is capitalism. Trying to fill gaps in the market for financial gain. They are not producing text books and they certainly do not have an infinite budget.

 

[grimslade]

In some ways, I wish the Forgotten Realms would go back to being forgotten...
Mythic Polynesia is a good example of why having a Cultural Consultant is a good idea. That Liam Guy has only started to read through, about 55 pages, and has found a lot of generalizations, microaggressions, and an overtly colonial perspective. I don't think TDM intends to be demeaning, on the contrary, they want to celebrate the culture and myths of Polynesia, but they treat it like a dead object, not the history of a continuing culture with actual living, thriving members.
Having another set of eyes to keep you from looking like a tool is a great thing.

 

[Jfdlsjfd]

You are leaving out a key element of the argument, which I believe is coloring your sense for what the "counter naturally would be" because it is less "out of the blue" than you say here.

@Whizbang Dustyboots noted that Mythic Polynesia didn't have "actual Polynesian people involved in the project at all," wherein I think that we can also understand that there were not even people of Polynesian descent, such as people of Polynesian descent living in the U.S., Canada, or Sweden.* So we are not talking strictly in terms of superficial research, but also about the authors' own voice, life experiences, and background that they bring to the project.

Well, I can see your point, but the setting is a fantasy analogy to Polynesian Islands in the 1200 or so. While I can see how, say, living in Italy (for example) gives an interesting point of view over a product set in current-time Italy, I don't think it helps when writing about Ancient Rome. I am of European descent and I don't claim understanding (outside of any research I might have done) over the Thirty Years War, and I have even trouble understanding what it would be to go in the trenches of WWI, because without proper research, current day experiences can't translate to events even just 100 years ago, let alone nearly a millenia ago.

I understand from your explanation that the point wasn't "ancestry excuses bad research" but maybe that "real life experience excuses bad research". Which is much less offensive, but still, IMHO, false: there are countless people who unfortunately tries that in the medical field, giving advic on how to cure cancer because they themselves, say, medidated it away instead of following a doctor-prescribed treatment, leading to people dying. Real life experience is useful in a few specific fields, but I don't think it extends so far as to replace academic and scientific approach -- which aren't necessary for fantasy settings, but useful if they want to be "realistic-souding" to their intended audience. Much like luiscarlos said upthread with his mentions of film locations starting in a street in Cadix and ending in Sevilla to represent a scene from Pamplona: it only need to "feel Spain" not to "be Spain" for the majority of the people buying the tickets, much like FR should just "feel medieval" and Eberron "feel turn-of-the-century" [yet Aundair is France, Breland is Britain...]

Honestly, if the exact same product had been made by people from Polynesia, it wouldn't be better or worse in my eyes, it would be the exact same product to be judged by the exact same standard (which can be stringent or lenient, depending on expectation on what a RPG setting would be).

As such, I think the implication of @Incenjucar drawing attention to Ed Greenwood's descent was not that it confered any special expertise but, rather, that it reflects the author's voice: i.e., Ed Greenwood is a person of European descent living in a state founded by European colonists whose citizens are composed by a majority of self-reported European descent.

I think we found the disconnect. I don't think a majority Europeans would agree that they share a common culture (at least, they might feel they get a few things in common, but they feel more attached to their local culture rather than a hypothetical European-wide culture. I can feel cultural differences by driving 100 km east or west and I have absolutely no idea of the folklore of, say, Central Europe. So, claiming "familiarity" [really, I don't know how to rephrase your "author's voice", thus I may be still missing your point] with European culture sounds strange even if some was from Europe, and even more from someone from Canada. On the other hand, I understand that in the North American cultural framework, since you're taught about "Europe" as a whole in history lessons, it is much more natural to understand. Hence the "out of the blue" feeling I had which you did'nt have.

 

[grimslade]

EDIT: i.e. So these guys seem to bang out pulp on various settings. Their method wouldn't change from culture to culture. Next they could bring out Mythic India, Mythic Russia and Mythic Congo and likely do the same thing - use a few easy resources including 1-2 commercial movies. That is capitalism. Trying to fill gaps in the market for financial gain. They are not producing text books.

Exactly. TDM is associated with churning out pulp. They produce bad products, done poorly. They also tend to insult members of the culture they are writing about. Why is this a good thing?

 

[AnotherGuy]

Exactly. TDM is associated with churning out pulp. They produce bad products, done poorly. They also tend to insult members of the culture they are writing about. Why is this a good thing?

Some people like pulp, some don't. There is a lot of music which is offensive and so many (MANY) stupid movies.

 

[Remathilis]

Some people like pulp, some don't. There is a lot of music which is offensive and so many (MANY) stupid movies.

I fail to see how Sturgeon's law justifies offensive material.